


Drabbles to Shop For

by sidana



Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 15:15:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16477970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sidana/pseuds/sidana
Summary: One of the PdS monthly drabble challengesTheme: shopping





	Drabbles to Shop For

Disclaimer: not my characters, not my universe. I'll put everyone back when I'm done playing with them  
Team: Go Team Guilty Pleasures!

**********

Asher walked into the small ground level office that served as the Circus mailroom. Tuesday was when most of the catalogs came, and he preferred their feel of thick glossy paper in his hands to the sterile pictures on Faust’s computer screen.

He counted catalog shopping as one of the greatest innovations of the nineteenth century. For all that Mr. Sears had not shared his taste, some of his peers did, and it had been a miracle to be able to buy a simple pair of pants without having to deal with the stares and pity of the shop clerks.

**************

For all the talk of a twenty-four hour world, there were still not many businesses open at three in the morning, especially once you took out the kinds of places that Malcolm had declared off-limits to his people. So for what seemed like the nine-hundredth time, Avery found himself cruising the housewares section of Walmart, debating whether or not to replace his bathroom towels out of sheer boredom.

And then he saw her: a pretty college girl who didn’t know it yet. Maybe he had a chance. She smiled at him; he smiled back.

The night was picking up.

***************

There were times the Americans still puzzled Jean-Claude. While nearly every group and culture had its own concept of ideal fashion, and he had even come to understand the idea behind sports spectators wearing their team’s football jerseys, no other people seemed to be perfectly willing to pay to serve as a billboard for another’s for-profit company. It seemed rather gauche.

Still, his advisors pointed out that such clothing would appear whether or not he approved of it, so he might as well earn profits from it. With a shrug, he signed the paper creating a licensing agreement for Guilty Pleasures apparel.

*****************

He was waiting up for Anita again, flipping through the channels and finding a couple of old friends. The glimpse of Laurie and Lisa brought back memories of watching QVC all summer because he was a nineteen-year-old insomniac with no cable. Merle had teased him about his viewing habits, but there was always something utterly and wonderfully human about the people who called to tell Lisa about how a particular lotion or gadget had changed their lives.

And it had turned out that their shampoo was what kept Nathaniel’s hair untangled. Maybe he should call Lisa and let her know

*****************

There were laws for being Ulfric, and customs, and customs that were strong enough that they were effectively laws. But there was no manual for it. He had learned he knew jack about leading when it didn’t involve force or people under the age of fifteen. And he could only really go to Verne so many times for advice without the pack looking weaker than it already was.

So Richard found himself browsing through the shelves of the Borders business section looking for advice. All things considered, “Managing After a Hostile Takeover” sounded like a book he needed to buy.

*****************

For J, who has complained about this many a time

****************

Anita hated this year’s version of fashion. She had been through three department stores and ten other stores at the mall. None had what she needed.

“Doesn’t anyone have pants with belt loops this year?” she grumbled to the salesbot at store number eleven.

“Belts are so two years ago. The only people wearing them now are fifty year old ladies in retirement homes,” the salesbot replied.

She was going to have to bite the bullet and ask Tammy where she bought hers. The cops always knew where to find trousers that had belt loops needed for a gun belt.

***************

Boxers or briefs? Zane couldn’t remember what he had used to like better. He had gone commando for years at that point because it was more comfortable that way. But now he had to put on something at night in order to share a bed with Anita. He didn’t get it, but those were her rules.

He shrugged and grabbed some of each, figuring he would try out the different styles. Even if he didn’t like them, it was more than worth five bucks a pair to have someone who was a real Nimir-ra in charge of the pard.

***************

Larry found himself hitting every department store in town on his quest for the perfect zombie-proof dress pants. He needed something both professional and durable, and it seemed you could have one or the other, but not both.

“So you say these are stain-resistant?”

“Very much so. Both wine and tomato sauce will come right off the fabric as long as you follow the care instructions,” the salesman promised.

He wanted to ask about blood resistance as well, but that would bring up too many questions he didn’t feel like answering today.

“Two pairs black, two brown, one navy, please.”

****************

Nathaniel ducked into the small store, smiling at his new pusher.

“I got your message that you got a new shipment in the other day,” he told the man.

“Not just one shipment. Vietnam, Madagascar, and Costa Rica all came in at once. Good crop from Vietnam this year too. Come have a look.”

He passed a small plastic bag to Nathaniel who inhaled, savoring the complex scent of the spice.

“Doesn’t even smell like it’s the same species as the same crap cinnamon you get at the grocery store,” he said, visualizing cinnamon rolls and other baking projects ahead.

****************

It was his first time back to the mall since That Night with Raina, and Jason was struggling. There was simply too much soft flesh all around that aroused his beast. But with Stephen’s hand on his elbow, he took a series of deep breaths and pulled the wolf back inside.

“It’s all a big-ass food court here,” he finally managed.

Stephen laughed at his inappropriate comment, and then he found himself joining in with it until he was breathing hard. It was those moments when he could find the humor it everything that he felt more human than wolf.

****************

“So we’ve got an hour before the flight to L.A.,” Claudia started as Bobby Lee rolled his eyes at her. “And this one always has good prices on bourbon.”

“Even if they didn’t, I’m not the one to come between a lady and her shopping.”

Then, just like every time they went through Bangkok, they headed into the duty-free shop. Inside, Claudia went to the cosmetics counter. She wasn’t one to use much in the way of make-up even when she wasn’t on duty. But when she did, lipstick was like cheesecake. Only the good stuff touched her lips.

*****************

Bobby Lee grinned to himself as he started to pull the jars of marinade off the shelf at World Market. While he was in the States, he worked hard to portray an American Southern identity right down to the food he ate. And while he had come to love a good Q, sometimes he still craved the flavors of what used to be home.

He had been very glad to discover the store carried piri-piri sauce direct from South Africa. While what he made never tasted as good as the street vendor food of his youth, it still tasted of home.

 

*********  
A/N: I’ve always had the suspicion that Bobby Lee came from a place further south than Alabama, and like to play with that idea from time to time.


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